I was able to take the time to observe a kindergarten classroom at my local elementary school. During the two hours I observed in the morning I watched the teacher complete her morning roll call, wherein the students had to sit quietly at their desks and raise their hands when their names were called. Following attendance taking, students were brought down to the carpet in the front of the class to discuss their plans for the day. Students were informed of the different activities that they would complete and once all questions were answered, it was time for the day review.
The calendar was updated, the weather was discussed, the day of the week was determined, and one student was selected to tell the time while another student was selected to update the classroom calendar to reflect the day with a third student being selected to update the weather. The ABC song was sung and then students had story time. The teacher read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and students were encouraged to raise their hands and ask questions during the story, followed by discussion time once the story was complete.
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"Observing an Early Childhood Education Setting".
The activities that I observed within the classroom were developmentally appropriate, addressing not only the physical (temperature and its affects), the social (participating in classroom discussions), and the emotional (understanding the need to take turns and be patient), but the cognitive as well (being asked to explain what they remembered from the story, the order of the story, and other associated questions specifically targeting thinking and development.
The instructional strategies that I observed primarily consisted of the teacher asking questions with students responding. All students were aware of the need to wait their turns and respond only when called on. The classroom management practices that I observed during this window were only for full group activities, but in keeping the students in one location with key instructional strategies in place, the entire classroom ran smoothly and the strategies were effective.
